Stuck Inside? Stay Active with Indoor Fitness Activities

When inclement weather prohibits students from going outside, teachers may struggle to keep students physically active and engaged during indoor recess and PE. What do you do when you are stuck inside with your students? Are your indoor activities feeling stale for both you and your students? At PLYOGA Fitness, we have an amazing equipment-free solution!

At PLYOGA Fitness, we believe that our bodies are the best form of exercise and physical activity. Why? Not only because there are endless activities and forms of movement you can do without equipment or access to gym space, but your students have their bodies with them all the time. We’re pretty sure they can’t leave their bodies at home! Body weight games and fitness programs take excuses out of the equation.

PLYOGA is a High Intensity Interval Training program based on plyometric movements that utilizes simple yoga postures as active recovery. We take functional exercises (using all three planes of movement) that every child can do (with or without modifications) and encourage high effort to work toward improved cardiovascular endurance, agility, strength, and power. Then, in the normal recovery time when a whole lot of nothing may be happening, we plug in simple yet effective yoga poses that encourage deep breathing, heart rate recovery, and of course, balance and flexibility which many people struggle with.

Because PLYOGA uses only the body, it works for students of all grade levels and fitness capabilities. With PLYOGA, children are encouraged to challenge themselves and move at their own pace while setting goals, focusing on self-esteem and confidence, improving posture, and many other social-emotional competencies. We honor the mission and mindset that “Your body is power,” and we try to unveil the personal power of each child through fitness.

We understand that most students in the US do not have PE every day, so we’ve created activities for both classroom and PE teachers that help encourage movement throughout the school day. We know that even if students have recess every day and PE once a week, they still may not get the recommended 30 minutes per day of physical activity.

A Mountain Minute, Minutes of Movement, and Sit Twice are three simple ways to create a greater movement-based culture throughout your school. To try the Minutes of Movement and Sit Twice activities with your students, visit https://www.plyogafitness.com/plyoga-kids and scroll to Interactive Downloads. (Sit Twice is described within Minutes of Movement.) A Mountain Minute is outlined below.

Depending on the grade level and vocabulary of your students, you may wish to rephrase the steps for A Mountain Minute to ensure understanding.

A Mountain Minute

• Stand with your feet firm to the ground.
• Reach your hands down with a purpose.
• Keep your head in alignment with your spine.
• Activate your muscles in your core.
• Breath in deeply. Exhale forcefully.
• Focus on all that makes you fulfilled.

A movement-based culture can help students focus, learn more effectively, retain information, and have more positive attitudes both in and out of school.

About PLYOGA Fitness

PLYOGA is a four-part interval training system using the benefits of fundamental and accelerated yoga as an active recovery for plyometric (reactive) movement. The program helps people of all ages understand their personal power by accelerating, strengthening, and stabilizing their fitness at any level. PLYOGA involves no equipment and alleviates space concerns because it can be done anywhere.

Interested in bringing a PLYOGA Fitness Student Day or Full-Day Professional Development to your school or district? For more information about PLYOGA Fitness, visit www.PLYOGAFitness.com and fill out an inquiry or email Stephanie@PLYOGAFitness.com.

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